


Movement

by hpg



Series: Wasteland, Baby! [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ancient magic, Archaeology, But I swear it's cute, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Canon Divergence - Post-Hogwarts, Colleagues - Freeform, F/M, First Kiss, Forehead Kisses, Getting Together, Well maybe just one, based on a hozier song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23945533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpg/pseuds/hpg
Summary: Hermione and Draco work together as archaeologists, unearthing mysteries and long lost stories. They are in a world of their own- Hermione is fascinated by the discoveries they make and the thrill of uncovering the truth. Draco, on the other hand, is fascinated by the girl he works with. The way she thinks, the way she moves, the way she loves.Alternate Title: Solving Riddles
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Series: Wasteland, Baby! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690561
Kudos: 7





	Movement

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Here is the next Hozier work, this time based on the song Movement and [this tumblr post](https://rosepetalphilosophy.tumblr.com/post/183200293595/types-of-people-wasteland-baby-nina-cried). For this one, I actually did some archaeology research but I must admit that if there is any history about our fictional wizarding world and when exactly it went underground, I am ignorant of it. I kind of let my imagination fill in most of this.
> 
> This one took me longer, but I blame it on lockdown! For like a week I had 80% of this written but I was just so uninspired by everything since I can't go out and talk to all my friends like I am used to at uni. Instead I'm stuck with my family, and I kid you not I spent two days in my pyjamas in my bed... but I'm over it for now! And I am very excited to write the other oneshots for this series!
> 
> Okay, let's get on with it.

Despite the Lumos charm at the centre of the space, darkness clung heavily to the air, stifling all movement. Its curving earthen walls seemed to follow the shape of this singular bulb of light, coming to close in above their heads.

The chamber was large, but these dark walls seemed to press in, lending it an element of claustrophobia though it towered above them.

Draco watched as Hermione’s face lifted slowly, silently drinking in the untouched relic. A white mist of breath unfurled in the air. It died just past her lips. He knew he should be looking at their latest discovery too, but allowed his gaze to rest on her illuminated profile regardless. He had got to know it so well recently; those big brown eyes, keenly intelligent, assessing what lay before her. Her lips were always slightly parted in awe as she witnessed history, whether it was a piece of scattered occamy silver in the dirt or an immense temple steeped in ancient magic.

He would love to know how her mind worked. Exactly what went through the head of the Brightest Witch of her Age each time she was rewarded with a mystery to decipher.

The scuffle of a footfall had barely reached his ears when the air snatched up its silence again, but it was enough to shake him from his trance.

Hermione stepped closer to the wall ahead of them, lifting her wand to cast light over the worn surface. It must have been thousands of years since anyone had laid eyes on the runes that were carved there.

“I don’t recognise these,” she murmured, stepping aside. Her free hand raised, fingers flexing once in a subtle gesture for Draco to come and take a look too. Not once did her eyes stray from the wall.

“Can’t say I do either,” he confirmed after a minute, “maybe it’s muggles again.”

“It’s very soon for you to be making those conclusions,” Hermione scolded him, smiling gently as she looked at him sideways, “and you should be hoping the opposite. This could be the crowning glory of our careers so far.”

“After Danebury though, I’m sceptical to assume everything that appears magic was made by magical people,” he insisted, “after all, this was built before the magical world became secret. It becomes a lot more complex.”

“You’re right, Draco,” she sighed, “but we aren’t going to find out by standing around here.”

Shooting him one last smile, she moved back to the entrance passage where she had left her things. He watched her as her fingers clasped around her notebook, the same she had always used. She tucked it under her arm with two old volumes of ancient runic translations, neither of which were ever far from her either.

As she spun back around, so did he, raising his wand. It felt wrong to cast verbal magic in here, like screaming in the heavy reverence of a church, so he set to work in silence. Magic flowed from his wand, necessary security and detection charms.

Once done, Hermione settled herself on the stone floor, ready to translate. Tearing his eyes away from her, Draco went to get his things as well. This was how it always was: she translated, he worked on artifacts. The part he really craved was the time when they had evidence solid enough to put together theories.

Eager to get that far as soon as possible, Draco set to work. Ignoring Hermione’s magnetic presence and scavenging the floor.

~

Draco had no idea how long they had been working for. Hermione’s clear intrigue about the place had driven him on, and now he had examined the surfaces of the chamber, various scattered fragments of things as well as a collection of things he had found swept into a small opening at the base of the North side.

He was ready to discuss his impressions, but considering the fact that the walls were entirely covered in runes, Hermione clearly had her work cut out. He was content to watch, however. It was like seeing a black-and-white film, the spotlight cast on his companion as her hands traced ancient markings, hair falling over her face as she consulted her beloved books.

“It’s not magic,” he declared eventually.

She barely startled, instead pressing her pencil to parchment and etching in one more symbol, before turning her head to him.

“You sound pretty confident about that.”

“I am. Look at these,” he held up a couple of clay bottles with bulbous bodies and short necks, “you know what these are.”

“Witch bottles,” Hermione frowned.

“Exactly. Muggle things that they thought for whatever mad reason would keep witchcraft away. And this place is full of them.”

Hermione frowned, looking back to her page for a split second.

“But these runes all have magical origin,” she insisted, “granted, I haven’t deciphered them all yet, but most of them bear close similarity to commonly studied runes. It’s almost definitely magical, but in a sort of local dialect.”

“Or,” Draco put forward, “there had been witchcraft in this place, and the muggles discovered it. Could it just be an imitation of magical runes?”

“Too complex,” she shook her head, “the common structures are all here, the symbols are just slightly different.”

Draco paused, resting his chin in his hand. This was the reason he loved this part. They always drove each other on with proof and disproof in electric debates, eventually landing on solid theories.

“Maybe there were some muggleborns involved?” he asked, “If this was built a little later than we thought, the wizarding population would already be being driven underground. Muggleborns had to hide their identities, so what better way than to get involved in some witch-banishing.”

“Still, they wouldn’t exactly have an innate sense of magical runes,” Hermione countered, “and if they had already learnt runes as well as this, what would be the point in re-entering the muggle world?”

“Maybe it is a bit far-fetched,” he admitted, “and I’ve never had reason to doubt my skills at dating before, so I suppose we shouldn’t start questioning the time period. I just can’t think how to explain these bottles.”

Hermione nodded, still deep in thought.

“Let’s head up for the day. I can tell we’re going to be here a while regardless.”

~

Above ground, the open air was an overwhelming contrast to the frozen capsule they had been investigating.

“Looks like Milbury was right about this find,” Draco commented as he sat beside Hermione on the grass, butterbeer in hand.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she agreed.

As he watched her take a sip and tilt her head back in bliss, Draco had to concur.

They sat in silence atop the hill, the breeze snaking gently through the air still shocking to the pair given the stillness of the rest of their day. It felt like a thunder of applause after a piano nocturne.

It was lighter out here too, despite the late hour. The city sprawled out below them, the glow of modernity seeming so removed from their own world.

~

The days dragged on their familiar brilliant torture as the pair worked. Draco lay each night, strikingly aware of the brunette sleeping so near to him. He watched her during the day, helped her and she spurred him on in his discoveries.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said one morning, “I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else.”

She looked very pleased with herself as she delivered this blessing. Draco thought his heart might explode.

“Oh yeah?”

“No one else would have been so insistent on their point that I wouldn’t be able to ignore it,” she told him, “I could have settled for an easy answer. But not with you.”

“Glad I could prove useful,” he smirked, walking ahead of her into the entrance.

“I think I may have figured it out,” she informed him from behind, fingers coming to grasp his wrist before he could step into the chamber itself. “It’s a good thing we’ve been treading with care. Have you noticed a pattern on the floor?”

He looked down then as she brushed past him, tiptoeing to the centre, where he could make out some vague lines.

“I know I haven’t made it all the way through the runes but part of it seems to be a spell. A ritual. It may be the first of its kind, but I think it was an attempt at disillusionment.”

“But the earliest recorded use of a charm resembling disillusionment wasn’t until…”

“Until the wizarding world was underground, yes.”

“But we’ve already established that this pre-dates that.”

“So this could be really some discovery we’re standing in, right?”

He refused to let his heart pound in anticipation. As if he had that power.

“How can you be so sure?”

“We’ll just have to give it a go, won’t we?” she had a smile on her face. _That_ smile. He was reminded that Hermione Granger, though sometimes quiet, always thoughtful and measured in her working, was unbreakable and fiery too. And, well… damned Gryffindor.

He nodded at her.

Her smile widened further before she turned. Beginning facing South, she raised her wand and began to mutter an incantation he had never heard before. Entranced, his eyes followed the line of her arm as she began to weave the magic she had been studying. The runes had set out a ritual movement as well as the spell, and now she was performing it, she was at once the perfect, finished student she had always been, and something wilder, something raw.

It was clear to Draco that he had been wrong. There was no denying that magic resided here.

As she turned, he felt as if he was watching the ballet; slowly, she made her way around the room as if she was the spinning needle of a compass. Only, he felt that he was the one being magnetised, the pull of her becoming almost irresistible.

Around him, the still air began to feel feverish, stirring with the memory of magic it surely recognised from its past.

With this stirring came movement. As Hermione commanded the space, the dust rose, forming vines that followed the lines carved into the floor, circling around the witch in the middle of the spell until they stretched to the ceiling.

Draco didn’t notice himself moving until he had stumbled right up to them, reaching his hand towards the epicentre.

And then it was complete. He wasn’t sure exactly how he knew, since he couldn’t even see Hermione anymore, but he did.

Presumably, that meant it had worked. Looking around him, the same fragile stillness had settled again, but certainly fuelled by magic. The dust hung in the air now, not the floor as it had done after centuries of disuse. The pillar of mist in the centre remained, his hand brushing the surface.

Frowning, he leaned forwards slightly. On entering the spell, his fingers felt cold as if he was dipping them into a waterfall. He pulled his hand back again, but it was not wet. Staring at the magic before him, he drew in a breath and stepped forwards.

The only comparable experience Draco had ever had was when the ghosts at Hogwarts had walked through him. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it was over soon enough. And now, standing in front of him, was Hermione.

“Can you hear me?” she asked, frowning up at him.

He returned the expression.

“Of course I can.”

“Could you hear me from out there?”

“Out there-?“ Draco twisted around. From inside the centre of the spell, one could see the rest of the chamber perfectly, as if merely through glass. “Oh. No. It doesn’t look like this from the outside.”

“And you couldn’t see me?”

Turning back to her, Draco saw a bright smile covering her face.

“No,” he shook his head.

“It works!” she was bouncing on the balls of her feet as she looked at him with a grin.

“You were right,” he commended her.

“We did it Draco!” she exclaimed, throwing herself forwards and into his arms. Despite his shocked state, he returned the hug, heart suddenly racing with joy.

As she pulled back breathlessly, he only registered looking in her eyes for a second before her lips crashed into his, arms lingering around his neck. He found himself reciprocating instantly, lips dancing against hers, all of his dreams coming true at once, better than he would have dared to imagine them.

All too soon, she was stepping back, eyes wide.

“Sorry, oh my- oh, Merlin, I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have-“

Her hands drew back from him, making their way instead to her mouth in surprise, but he caught her wrists gently.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered, “I don’t mind at all.”

She looked back at him, their eyes locked, forgetting everything around them. A slight smirk was tugging at his lips.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head.

“Hermione, you are a beautiful witch with a beautiful mind. You think I’m going to protest?”

As he said this, her lips parted more and more with that familiar wonder. Usually she wore it when they had just discovered something new. Which, perhaps, they had.

“Well, I… you really think that?”

“I love working with you,” he said, then, “speaking of which, we still have more work to do. I imagine we’ll still be here for a couple of days.”

The smirk was well and truly present now. Hermione’s jaw dropped.

“Draco Malfoy!” she exclaimed, trying to scold him and _not laugh_.

His smirk only grew. She huffed out a breath.

“I suppose you’re right,” she said, “I should take down all this magic and we can get back-“

Before she could finish, he had pulled her right back to him, his hands sitting on her waist, and put his lips to hers urgently. He was not letting her get away.

~

“How do you factor in those muggle witch bottles?”

Draco asked Hermione this as her walked towards her where she lay on the grass. Placing her butterbeer on the ground and taking a sip of his own, he sat facing her. Her eyes fell from the stars in the night sky to regard him.

“We already know this site was active around the time the wizarding world went incognito, so what if they came along later?”

“That works…” Draco agreed, “they probably found out about the magic and tried to purge it.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Draco smiled. A job well done.

And a little added bonus had come along this time, he realised with a smile as he bent over to kiss Hermione on the forehead.

Laughing, she grabbed his face and brought his lips to her own instead. He grinned and lay down beside her, feeling her slide her hand into his. And when she moved, he moved.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave reviews! I will love you forever :) Stay safe everyone!!


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